The Once and Future Thing
by HorseLoverTW
Summary: The Amazon Princess has come back after decades of Intergalactic work abroad to find what has happened to Bruce and to meet the young man who is replacing him.
1. Ancient History

**The Once and Future Thing**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond nor do I own Justice League. _

Chapter 1: Ancient History

"Mr. McGinnis? A word please," Terry's Western Civilization professor requested. He was a frail looking older gentleman who lectured onward whether the snoring was obscuring his hour and a half monotone diatribe or not.

Inwardly wincing, Terry waited for the rest of his class to vacate the lecture hall. What had he done? He'd turned in his midterm essay on time. It had been about Alexander the Great's contribution to society in furthering the spread of Greek culture and ideas. Or at least that was what Max had told him when he'd asked her what she'd written for him.

And yea, that sounded kind of terrible, allowing his best friend to do his paper for him, but really, she'd asked to. Told him that the purple bruising under his eyes was making her sick or something and that if doing a few of his easier assignments let him save lives and retain a GPA high enough to stay in college another semester, she'd gladly do it. Who was Terry to stand in her way?

Oh yea, Batman. The Tomorrow Knight, the unCaped Crusader, the New Dark Knight, Co-leader of the Justice League, Gotham's Savior, and so on and so on. Not like it curried him any leverage over Max...the assignments she helped him with because SHE wanted to.

As the last student filtered out, Terry rose from his seat with a grimace (He'd both wailed and been wailed upon last night by a gang of Jokerz. The tech those clowns were starting to get their grubby gloved hands on these days was no laughing matter.

"Professor Ickbod?" Terry asked uncertainly once he was standing before the aged scholar.

"Yes, Mr. McGinnis," Professor Ickbod began, shuffling around his satchel and producing, to Terry's horror, the said essay over Alexander the Great. "It's come to my attention that your writing in this midterm is not consistent with the tone of your first paper over the Peloponnesian War. Do you have anything to say for the discrepancies?"

Terry knew a thing or two about fishing… being the protégé of the world's greatest detective and all but still, something about Professor Ickbod's calm inquest had Terry blurting out, "I'm sorry, Professor," before he could stop himself.

At Ickbod's nod of approval, Terry continued, "I've been a bit swamped and had some help writing it from a friend. But I'll completely do it over again if you'll let me…you know, without any help."

Professor Ickbod scratched his chin for a moment. "No, I'm afraid that would not be fair to the other students that turned their essays in on time without additional help."

Terry's fist clenched in frustration but before he could utter a word, the Professor continued, "However, I'm willing to work with you on this. Before you take your final in December, I want you to hand in an essay twice as long that details a Greek Mythology we've discussed this past week in class. It should not only give the story of the myth, but offer further insight into the origins of the myth and its lasting impact on Greek and later Western Societies. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes sir. And thank you for this," Terry added as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I think I know just the myth…"

"What's brought on all these questions?" the old man said gruffly, swiveling his chair around to fix Terry with a penetrating stare. They were in the cave and Terry had just pulled his cowl on.

Terry blinked a few times, making sure all systems were functioning before he replied carefully, knowing that something about the subject had rubbed Wayne the wrong way. "It's for an essay in Western civ I have to do to make up for my less than stellar midterm performance… I just figured with you being ancient and a former associate of hers that you'd have some insight…"

"Ha ha," Bruce sarcastically intoned, "Wonder Woman's type of ancient and my ancient differ quite a bit and our relationship was… is private. You can research what you need on the net."

The new batman, his voice lowered, smirked. "You and Wonder Woman, huh? That must have been something."

Bruce smirked back. "Don't you have a patrol and then a meeting on the watchtower to attend to?"

Aside from nearly having his head ripped off by a pair of Dee Dee's who were a little too whip happy, patrol had been uneventful.

The meeting on the Watchtower was anything but.

As soon as Batman had materialized on deck, Kai-Ro, the new Monastery-raised Green Lantern, approached him. "Superman is in from Quadrant five and he has brought a guest."

"Who?"

Kai-Ro grinned, his bald head gleaming under the bright lights of Watchtower. "You will have to see to believe."

The last son of Krypton had aged well. He sported only a few gray hairs and the barest hint of a frown line. Said line was becoming deeper as Batman made his way into the Meeting chamber room. "You're late, Batman," he said as the Tomorrow Knight took his seat.

The new Batman didn't say anything but instead surveyed the others with a bored expression upon his masked face. He lounged back and folded his arms. Batman hated when Superman made his appearances. The man in black and white with the fat S on his chest was way too lordy over the rest of them, even if he didn't mean to be. Plus, he always left shortly after to disappear on missions halfway across the universe- each time taking a few more Leaguers to assist and each time leaving fewer behind to defend his adopted planet.

If Superman really had brought back someone, Batman didn't see them at present.

Superman looked to the aged Static Shock, his dreadlocks a deep gray but his electric eyes flashing as brilliantly as ever. "Report."

"We've seen increased activity near Kosnia, also reports of tech disruptions over the Aegean. Pyongyang is still in friendly negotiations with Seoul over the union but dismantling the DMZ has brought increased tensions."

"What else is new?" Superman urged, his broad frame filling the seat to its capacity as he pulled his rolling chair closer to the meeting's circular table.

Static went on, "Since you were last here, we've also been experiencing increased gang violence in Bludhaven, Star, and Central City."

"We saw this first when Arrow and Canary retired. I told Wally this would happen," Superman muttered.

Batman finally spoke up. "Nightwing was in stable condition last I checked, but he's done."

Rex Stewart, Warhawk, banged his steely fist against the table. "Who are we going to send to cover? This is getting ridiculous."

Batman arched a brow pointedly at Superman. "Agreed. We're stretched too thin as it is. We need some new blood."

Instead of looking surlier than usual, Superman smiled. "Actually, I might have just the thing for that."

As he said this, the automatic doors swooshed open. There, standing poised in the doorway was Wonder Woman. Batman could hear the hushed silence on the other end of his transmitter where Bruce sat in front of his large computer. The old man had seen her too.

Terry had seen dozens of pictures of her on Bruce's League database and on the net but nothing could quite have prepared him for the actual Wonder Woman. She was strikingly beautiful of course, with glossy black hair delicately framing the sharp features of her face. With her chiseled cheeks and icy blue eyes, she looked the part of a Greek Goddess, which wasn't too far off base actually.

Her figure was lean and muscular, her bustier not as large as the new Batman had envisioned. She was tall however; probably even a little taller than himself if only a little shorter than Barda.

What caught him off guard though was her expression. She wasn't the female version of Superman that he had assumed. She was all warrior, and in her icy eyes belied a cunning Terry had only ever before perceived in Bruce himself. She was powerful and not to be messed with.

Superman rose from his seat, the other leaguers following his lead. "Wonder Woman came back with me when we heard the reports of the Kosnian power struggle."

Wonder Woman entered, and Batman noticed the elegance with which she carried herself. Her red-heeled boots made no noise on the polished floor. When she spoke, it was with the air of royalty. "Queen Audrey was a good friend of mine. Her death and the resulting struggle it's caused has left the nation she built in a mess. I fear Hades is using the opportunity."

Static recovered first. "You think that's why we're getting the news of the bizarre behavior and attacks from the Aegean?"

Wonder Woman lifted her chin and gazed around at the new Leaguers, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she took in the red bat symbol emblazoned on Terry's chest. She focused on Virgil. "I'm almost positive. Hades can't resist a power vacuum."

"You probably know the area best, Diana," Superman began with just the hint of a smile. The big guy obviously enjoyed having the Amazon with them once more if his impassiveness could be moved to near humor. "What do you say? Want to go visit your mom and kick Hades back to you know where again?"

If Terry was anyone but Batman, he might not have noticed the way Diana's nose crinkled ever so slightly at the mention of her mother. "I will investigate. It's been a long time since I've been back home…" she trailed off, looking a little less sure of herself.

It was Barda who asked, "Do you require any backup? I would consider it an honor to accompany you."

Wonder Woman shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I feel this is something I need to do on my own."

Later, as Terry was exiting the meeting room, he was startled when Wonder Woman came up behind him and rather forcefully ushered him into a secluded alcove near the cafeteria. When he tried to yank his arm out of her grasp, he found that her grip was too powerful, even for his suit. He raised a brow questioningly but she refused to say anything until they were in the alcove.

"Yes?" Batman asked coldly, not liking the way she was pushing him around.

Her ice blue eyes, similar to his own, narrowed dangerously at his gravely tone. "Where is the old Batman?"

Terry was about to walk away, but Bruce's voice crackled in his ear, "Tell her I'm in the cave." The old man's voice was very low and if Terry wasn't mistaken, sounded more than a bit choked.

"He says he's in the cave. I take it you know the way?"

She nodded.

"Good, I'll leave the two of you to it then," he said, preparing to push past her but she blocked his way.

"Wait, how many…." she hesitated, surprising Terry before she shook her head and determinedly finished, "how old is he? With years passing differently where I was, I don't know how long I've been gone…"

"He's…" Terry considered her knitted brows and her expectant eyes before finishing, "Let me re-introduce you."

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	2. Much Ado

The Once and Future Thing

_Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond nor do I own Justice League._

Chapter 2: Much Ado

"You must misplace this thing a lot," Terry commented from his vantage inside the invisible jet's cockpit. Clouds rushed past his vision, seemingly opening before them as though through divine intervention as the suburbs of Gotham's sprawling empire began to emerge far below through the blanketed darkness that preceded dawn.

"Dome is an old friend. She is not so easily misplaced," was Wonder Woman's cryptic answer from the pilot's seat in front of Terry.

The thought that the he was flying at several thousand miles an hour in a plane he couldn't see that apparently had its own sentience was too much to contemplate so he changed tact. "So when was the last time you saw him?"

She flipped a few switches and he felt rather than saw the thrusters change position to allow for a more vertical descent as they approached Wayne's stately mansion from the cliffside. As they leveled out with the waterfall under the house, she reversed the thrusters once more. The water was thundering down on the roof of the invisible cockpit, cascading around them like a cocoon when she finally replied, "The last time I saw Batman was shortly after the Joker had died…"

Terry winced. The whole affair with Tim Drake and the return of the mad clown had been an ordeal he was not eager to relive any time soon. Particularly with regards to the history he'd uncovered surrounding Bruce and his charges. From what he gathered, it had been the catalyst to his severance not only with Tim, Dick, and eventually Barbara, but also from the Justice League.

After deftly landing the jet on the large rotating pad in the center of the cave, she pulled a release. The sudden hiss of cold cavern air signaled that the cockpit's window had been retracted. Terry and Wonder Woman jumped down together, the perfection of their synchronous landing somewhat marred by the intense scowl Bruce wore as he stood poised before them, cane in hand.

He inclined his head ever so slightly toward Wonder Woman. "Princess," he gave by way of greeting.

She frowned before stepping before him, the hurt in her eyes as starkly evident as the glowing gold of the lasso tied at her hip. "Bruce…" she murmured, her hand hesitantly outstretched toward the old man as she took in the silvery-gray hair, the lined face… the cane.

He looked down to where her eyes were focused and Terry watched his jaw clench before his gaze rose to her concerned face. "What are you doing here, Diana?"

Ignoring his question, her outstretched hand seemed to finally make a decision as she pulled him into her arms. The clatter as the cane hit the ground reverberated around the cavern as though an explosive had gone off and Terry heard several bats off in the distant recesses take flight.

It was a few moments before the old man slowly returned the embrace, his arms snaking around her waist and his face burying itself in her neck as he gave in.

Terry felt vaguely uncomfortable, as though he should give them their privacy, yet his curiosity refused to let him look anywhere else.

Bruce was the first to pull away, but Wonder Woman's hands still gripped his biceps as she held the old man at arms length. "You stubborn, foolish man," she whispered, her blue eyes piercing, "Was this what you wanted?"

Bruce seemed to have the decency to look ashamed of whatever she was referring to, because instead of answering, he dropped his gaze down to where the cane had fallen. "It was for the best," he assured the cave's floor.

Her grip tightened and anger flooded her voice as she leaned in, "Yes, I remember…you're a rich kid with issues and I'm an immortal from a race of all-women warriors, however could we have spent any time together?"

When he refused to answer, she shook him slightly. "I wanted to be with you, Bruce! I wanted to spend whatever time we could, together. But you've robbed me of that, just as you've robbed yourself of any lasting chance at happiness. I hope it was worth it."

Bruce slowly pried off her death grip, one hand and then the other, took a step back and a deep breath before he finally said, "It was, Princess. We didn't belong together and it wasn't for me to steal your time, any of it."

She sighed heavily, turning her face away from him for a moment and muttered, "Hera, is this what love is in man's world? It's good that my sisters cling to the island, if despair is all that awaits a lifetime of longing."

Pained, Bruce opened his mouth to speak but she put her hand up. "I don't want to hear anymore of your reasoning. I love you Bruce, I probably always will, but when I think of how you pushed me away, of how you have always pushed everyone who cares for you away, it breaks my heart. I thought the time away would have given you some perspective, but you only took it to ensure my hope had withered on the vine like some sour grape, like your bleak and shattered soul."

Bruce slowly gathered up his cane and leaned on it, heavily, before replying, "Life's not a fairy tale, Princess, and I'm no shining knight."

Wonder Woman squared her shoulders, standing strait and tall and eternally, brightly beautiful against the solemn darkness of the cave. "No," she agreed, "You're not."

Terry stepped up behind the old man and together, they watched her depart, the distant waterfall curtaining behind her as though she and her invisible jet had never been there at all.

"Now I know you're crazy," Terry told the old man.

He grunted. "You're late for patrol."

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"Hey Dee Dee, Batman isn't giving us any attention," one of the psychotic clown girls said to her doppelganger.

"You're right Dee Dee, he should be punished," the other intoned a bit too gleefully for Terry's tastes as she lit up her whip and cracked it strait at his neck.

He pivoted to the right and then used the stabilizers in his hands as blasters to knock the first Dee Dee off her feet. "Come on ladies, can't we just get along?"

The second Dee Dee, aghast at her sister's fall, turned a wicked glare on Terry before she lit up a second whip. Without enough time to launch himself skyward, he found himself pinioned against a wall, one whip around a thigh and the other around his opposite wrist. He was about to use the stabilizer of his free hand at her, when the first Dee Dee popped up and secured his other two appendages.

Now actually becoming worried, Terry struggled for a moment until they looked to one another and then both released an electric charge through the four whips, strong enough to bypass the suits' dampeners.

A scream of pain escaped Terry's lips but was quickly cut off as the electricity abruptly ended, the whips falling limply to the ground as their power went out. Blearily, he looked up to find Wonder Woman holding the Dee Dees by the scruff of their costumes off the ground, one in each of her fists and both unconscious.

"Care for some company, Tomorrow Knight?" she asked Terry, a smirk on her lips as she unceremoniously tossed the Dee Dees before him.


End file.
